hadith
1892
۞
Imam Ali (AS) was once asked by a Jew, ‘When did our Lord, Mighty and Exalted, come to be?, to which he replied, ‘O Jew, It is not that our Lord was not and then came to be, for the question ‘When did x come to be? is posed regarding something that is not there and then comes to be. He exists without coming into being; He is ever existing having nothing before Him. He is before ‘before itself, before any limit. Limits do not apply to Him for He is the ultimate limit of all limits.
الإمامُ عليٌ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ـ وقَد سَألَهُ رَجُلٌ يَهودِيٌّ: مَتى كانَ رَبُّنا عَزَّوجلَّ؟ ـ: يا يَهودِيُّ ، (ما كانَ) لَم يَكُنْ رَبُّنا فكانَ ، وإنَّما يُقالُ: «مَتى كانَ» لِشَيءٍ لَم يَكُنْ فكانَ ، هُوَ كائنٌ بِلا كَينونَةِ كائنٍ لَم يَزَلْ لَيسَ لَهُ قَبلٌ ، هُوَ قَبلَ القَبلِ ، وقَبلَ الغايَةِ ، انقَطَعَتْ عَنهُ الغاياتُ ، فهُوَ غايَةُ كُلِّ غايَةٍ .